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Setting up macOS on a damaged MacBook Pro

Setting up macOS on a damaged MacBook Pro

M
mtwelles
Junior Member
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08-19-2021, 01:36 PM
#1
Hey there, so I've been working hard lately. I found an MPB from early 2015 with a failing SSD. Recovery worked only when using Sierra. The OS couldn't be reinstalled, and the drive seemed dead. Setting up High Sierra on an external HDD was tricky—had to rely on the dosdudes installer because the recovery mode kept showing a question mark. Using dosdude Mojave Patcher helped me upgrade to Mojave 10.14.6. Now I'm replacing the faulty internal SSD with a Sintech adapter and a Crucial P1 NVMe, using a bootable USB with Mojave to install macOS on the new drive. The drive is showing up correctly; I can erase it and configure APFS. But when it comes to booting or installing the OS, things still don't work. I'm wondering if my bootloader (MPB121) is outdated—maybe the dosdude patch for the original HDD isn't updating it properly? Or perhaps the update only went to High Sierra on the external drive and doesn't affect the MPB? Also, my Mojave version might be too old. I know Dosdude has a bootrom injector for NVMe, but Mojave should support that natively... Thanks for any tips!
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M
mtwelles
08-19-2021, 01:36 PM #1

Hey there, so I've been working hard lately. I found an MPB from early 2015 with a failing SSD. Recovery worked only when using Sierra. The OS couldn't be reinstalled, and the drive seemed dead. Setting up High Sierra on an external HDD was tricky—had to rely on the dosdudes installer because the recovery mode kept showing a question mark. Using dosdude Mojave Patcher helped me upgrade to Mojave 10.14.6. Now I'm replacing the faulty internal SSD with a Sintech adapter and a Crucial P1 NVMe, using a bootable USB with Mojave to install macOS on the new drive. The drive is showing up correctly; I can erase it and configure APFS. But when it comes to booting or installing the OS, things still don't work. I'm wondering if my bootloader (MPB121) is outdated—maybe the dosdude patch for the original HDD isn't updating it properly? Or perhaps the update only went to High Sierra on the external drive and doesn't affect the MPB? Also, my Mojave version might be too old. I know Dosdude has a bootrom injector for NVMe, but Mojave should support that natively... Thanks for any tips!

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E
erroch
Member
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67
08-19-2021, 01:36 PM
#2
Consider trying an older OS X version first, then upgrade. Installing El Capitan, moving up to High Sierra, and finally to Mojave might seem complicated, but it could unlock the firmware update. It seems the system hasn’t been updated for APFS booting yet. Also, I’m friends with Collin Mistr (dosdude1), so I can confirm the patcher won’t flash your system—use an official installer instead.
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E
erroch
08-19-2021, 01:36 PM #2

Consider trying an older OS X version first, then upgrade. Installing El Capitan, moving up to High Sierra, and finally to Mojave might seem complicated, but it could unlock the firmware update. It seems the system hasn’t been updated for APFS booting yet. Also, I’m friends with Collin Mistr (dosdude1), so I can confirm the patcher won’t flash your system—use an official installer instead.

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